Global Defense: The Defector
by The Wilky Bar Kid
Summary: After the failed raids on the Athena Academy and the Graystone's house, Agent Jack Bowman thinks they may have reached a turning point when they receive word that an STO member wants protection in exchange for information.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N - This story takes place during 1x04 "Gravedancing".**

**GDD Assembly Point  
5 Miles from the Athena Academy**

The spires of the Athena Academy could be made out poking through the treeline in the distance. I stood with my partner, Agent Claire Ratliff, beside our car as we waited for the rest of the team to assemble. Claire had brought a flask of shockingly strong black coffee with her to help wake her up after what appeared to have been a late night on the town, later than perhaps she should have and we drank it as we waited. Surprisingly it was Special Agent Jordan Duram who was keeping us waiting even though he was running the show.

"Well this is a first," said Claire checking her watch on her right hand before sipping some more of her coffee the steam from which twisted and turned into the cool and brisk morning air.

"He must have pulled some serious strings to get a warrant for this," I added as I pondered on what we were about to do.

"Oh I would love to know what kind of deal he made to get this one," she chuckled. "When he thinks he's right he always puts that scrawny ass of his on the line to prove it. I'd love to see it booted back just once."

It was no secret that Claire had a strong dislike for Duram although I would have liked her to have been more discrete about it since I was her partner. I was pushing close to thirty five years old and I had no interest in spending the rest of my career with the GDD on some BS assignment because I'm tied to Ratliff who pissed off one of the department's 'golden boys'.

Despite her third cup of coffee she continued to yawn and her eyes looked very heavy indeed.

"Rough night?" I asked half amused and half irritated with her.

"_Big_ night," she replied grinning.

"I'm afraid to ask."

"Come on, Bowman, you were young once," she teased.

"I was never young," I replied dryly. "I was born in my thirties complete with receding hairline and mid-life crisis. Oh here we go!" It was at that moment that I saw Jordan Duram's car coming up the quiet country road. Following behind him was a large white van with a portable satellite dish on top. It was followed by a similar looking van but with a different livery emblazoned on the side. "I don't believe this."

Claire smirked and shook her head in amused disbelief. "That arrogant bastard! He's only gone and invited the press."

I watched Jordan pull up on the side of the road before climbing out. The media vans stopped also and the reporters clambered out carrying a host of cameras. They quickly began filming either pointing the camera at us or at their own reporters. As the frenzy began to unfurl and Jordan was swamped with questions he took a look over at me as if wanting some kind of approval for what he was doing. I wasn't going to give him one and I think he knew it. Me and Jordan went way back. We both had dirt on the other and we had both come to a mutual understanding that we would keep quiet for the others sake but the result was that what was once a strong friendship had now deteriorated into mutual dislike and often loathing of one another. I think his desire for my approval was his way of pondering back to a less complicated time when the STO where all but a memory and Caprica was not so chaotic but above all frightened. As I looked back at him holding my expression firm I saw for only the briefest of seconds that he too, like the rest of the general population, was angry and scared.

It is a long proven fact that fear turns wise men into fools..

* * *

**Athena Academy  
****30 Minutes Later**

"Global Defense Department! We have a search warrant! Please step away from the lockers!"

Clutching the bolt cutters firmly in my hand I entered the main building with Duram, Youngblood and Claire along with several of the 'dogs' - members of the GDD who didn't hold 'Agent' rank - in short the GDD's muscle. Duram ordered the press to wait outside while we began tearing open the lockers that lined the walls. One after the other we opened each locker and began a search for explosives, wires, detonators or anything that could be fashioned into some kind of bomb or Improvised Explosive Device (IED). At first the press cooperated but after a while they became anxious to film and photograph what was going on and were soon pushing their way in further and further through the front entrance. Teachers were screaming a whole host of insults at us as we went about our search while many students either wept or tried to retaliate only to be restrained outside for questioning before release.

It was chaos!

After an hour we had finished destroying the padlocks and searching the lockers. I had never felt like such a bully in all my life. I knew it had to be done but I couldn't help but feel there was a better way of going about it. And after all this what was the result - we found nothing.

Duram was looking positively enraged. The press were now buzzing around the school like swarms of flies interviewing crying school kids and angry teachers all of whom were cursing our names. The line between us and the students had now deteriorated and finally Duram gave the order most of us were silently praying for.

"Alright! That's it, let's go!"

As we tried to leave through the front entrance we found ourselves trying to move through a sea of people. Most of them were students trying to get to their lockers to inspect the damage or try and get hold of their things before some would-be thief took advantage of the situation and helped themselves to whatever was inside.

Duram had it worst of all. The reporters thrust microphones in and tape recorders into his face hoping he would admit he was wrong but instead he only gave them a very diplomatic, "No comment at this time. A statement will be released later today."

As the door came in sight over the flowing heads of busy people I felt someone crash into my right side. I looked down to find a blond girl about seventeen years old trying desperately to pick up a bundle of books she had dropped from the impact. Perhaps I was looking for some kind of repentance but I felt I couldn't just leave without helping and so I leaned down and helped her gather up two rather neat looking exercise books that had landed by my feet.

The girl saw my hand picking them up and her startled eyes shot wide open in surprise and horror. It was as if my simple act of kindness was in someway an accusation. She was afraid of me. I can't say I blame her. This had just been one huge fiasco. If we had found something, anything at all, then we would have been justified but we found nothing and had only alienated the students and staff. Worse still it had all been caught on camera by the media.

"Sorry," I said handing her back the books. I don't know if I was apologizing just for the collision or whether it was for this whole sad affair. The girl rather sheepishly took the books and nodded a silent appreciation before quickly disappearing into the crowd.

"Bowman!" called out Claire from the door. "Let's go!"

"Coming!"

* * *

**GDD Headquarters  
Caprica City  
Seven Hours Later**

I stared at the blinking display of my personal computer trying to write my report regarding the Academy for the written record. The words failed to produce themselves despite several attempts to get started. Duram had taken most of the heat for the raid. He had spent the better part of the day in his office with Youngblood going over everything they had in case they had missed something first time round from the Academy or later at the Graystones. I had never seen him like this before. He was extremely stressed and short tempered when he was usually quite calm and controlled. Only Claire seemed to be taking pleasure in all of this. She had enjoyed watching Duram take such a big fall even though the truth was that it was a big hit against all of us. Somehow she didn't see it that way.

"Could you try and enjoy this a little less please?" I asked after having had enough of watching her smirk out the side of her mouth. "Don't you have a report you could be doing?"

"I did it earlier," she replied smugly.

"Then find something to do would you?"

"I am doing something," she replied. "I'm waiting for you to give up and drive me home."

"Ever heard of the bus?"

"Well I've recently taken a strong dislike to using public transport. There's something about the possibility of getting blown up that really makes me feel uncomfortable. Besides I was thinking that you and Emma might fancy a drink tonight? You look like you could use one."

"I don't really feel up to it," I grumbled truthfully realizing I was in no mood for an intoxicated Claire Ratliff. A sober Claire was often tiring enough. "Anyway didn't you drink enough last night?"

"For last night I did but today is a new day," she replied as my cellphone stated ringing.

"Why don't you give your liver a chance to recover?" I said before pushing the answer button and holding it up to my ear. "Bowman!"

"Hey Bowman it's me!" declared a rather agitated sounding voice.

"Care to be more specific?" I added in a somewhat overly cynical way. I have always hated people who announce themselves on the phone like that.

"It's me, Jacob! Jacob Ellis."

That suddenly caught my attention. Jacob Ellis was known by us as being involved in the monotheist movement but was not directly involved with the STO. A few weeks ago we had chased him down and put the fear of the Gods into him in order for him to become a snitch for us. So far it hadn't paid off as well as we had hoped it would. The only really valuable information we had obtained from him was that the Maglev bombing wasn't ordered by the STO hierarchy but rather was an independent act carried out by Ben Stark in their name. It seemed that Jacob Ellis was out of the loop on a lot of the STO's business despite him embracing monotheism.

"Hello Jacob," I said snapping my fingers to get Claire's attention. "What can I do for you?"

"I need your help," he replied in a hushed voice.

"Are they onto you?" I asked immediately thinking that he had been discovered.

"No! No, at least I-I-I don't think so. I know someone you might be interested in talking to. I need your help to get her off the streets."

"I see. And is this person belonging to a certain group who are very particular about the deity they worship?"

"Yes! She's STO. Or at least was, she wants out. I said you could help. Meet me at Toby's in about half an hour."

"Alright, I'll be there," and with that I hung up the phone and reached for my jacket on the back of my chair. Claire rose to her feet knowing something was up. "Jacob Ellis says that he's got an STO member who wants to defect. He wants us to meet him at Toby's Bar."

"Are you frakking serious?" said Claire in open mouthed shock. "Are we going to tell Duram?"

"No," I said taking a moment to think. Looking at Duram working with Youngblood in his office I felt that now wasn't the time to go to him with this. He might think that the harder he works the closer he will get to the goal he has set himself but the truth was that his mind had become closed. He was losing his objectivity and his judgement was becoming impaired as a result of set back after set back on this case. "No, let's see what we got first. With any luck we can toss him something useful for a change."

"We're ging to miss the Graystones on Sarno," she uttered. "Damn, I wanted to see that."

We went down to the parking lot located underneath the building to retrieve my car. As we drove out I saw that the sun had disappeared behind the horizon and the clouds were a rather heavy and murky looking, a harbinger for a night of heavy rain. Already the first few drops were beginning to sprinkle on the windscreen of my black Scorpia Sedan as we passed through the exit gate and onto the main road. It was then that I noticed the time and realized I was going to be much later than usual getting home if this paid off. With my right hand on the steering wheel I reached for my cellphone once more with my left hand and selected the number for my house.

"No using your phone whilst driving!" chanted Claire mockingly as I waited for my wife to answer.

"Hello," replied a young voice.

"Archie!" I said recognizing my twelve year old son's voice. "Where's your mom?"

"She's in the shower. Want me to go get her?"

"No that's ok, buddy."

"You're going to be home late again aren't you?" he asked before I could even get a chance to say anymore.

"I'm afraid so, mate," I replied with a hint of frustration as I sensed the disappointment in his voice.

"Mom's going to be pissed at you," he threatened.

"Hey what have I said about you using language like that? Huh?"

"Sorry," he recoiled his voice betraying the fact that his face was screwing up in disbelief that he had blurted it out to me. I hate children swearing.

"I don't care how you talk to your friends when you use that Holoband but here in the real world you watch your tongue."

"Ok, sorry!" he repeated with a rising tone wanting to emphasize his point.

"Alright then, well let your mother know when she gets out of the shower."

"Well what time are you going to be back?" he asked.

"I don't know yet. About eleven," I replied picking out a time at random that seemed to fit what I was doing.

"If mom changes the locks before then do you want me to call you?"

"Smart ass!" I replied as I heard him chuckle down the phone. "Alright take care, buddy."

"You too, Dad."

There was a clicking sound and the phone went dead. I tossed it down into the well in the door and returned both my hands to the steering wheel. I do genuinely love my job but the hours are a nightmare to work around with family. Any promise I make to Emma and Archibald can be broken with a short phonecall from the office. I like to think they understand and on some level I'm sure they do but people can only take so much.

With that particular unpleasantness behind me I switched my brain over to the task at hand. Just who would I be meeting with at Toby's Bar?


	2. Chapter 2

**Toby's Bar  
Thirty Minutes Later**

Toby's was an Aerilon themed bar with memorabilia from the farming dominated planet adorning the walls and the distinctive music filling the air over the sound of people talking away at varying levels of volume. I had told Claire to stay in the car and to call the office if I wasn't back within thirty minutes although in reality I'd probably be dead by then anyway if this was some kind of trap. That was a sobering thought to say the least. It was still quite early in the evening despite the darkness that had swept over the sky above the city and there were only a handful of patrons inside the bar. Most were huddled together around tables talking while a few sat alone in different corners of the room reading newspapers or simply staring vaguely into their drinks.

I walked slowly towards the bar, taking my time to examine the people inside through my peripheral vision. I seemed to go by almost totally unnoticed which I took to being a good thing. It meant no one was waiting specifically for me except for Jacob Ellis who stood with a bottle of beer in his hand in front of the television set that hung from the opposite wall and could only just be heard over the music. Our botched raid on the Athena Academy was once again being replayed on the news and I had a feeling it was going to be something we would hear about for days yet.

He saw me and motioned for me to come over in a less than discrete way. I walked up to him with a confident stride so as to appear that I was meeting with an old friend although my suit and trench coat contrasted sharply against his old baggy trousers, ripped yellow jacket and peaked cap.

"Jacob," I said with a nod.

"H-Hey Bowman," he stammered, his mouth being only barely visible behind a bushy crop of ginger tinted facial hair. "You ok?"

"Yes, are you?" I asked noting how nervous he was looking even for him.

"I don't like this. This is a little too hands on for my liking. Being a snitch is one thing but this is too involved for me."

"Alright, so who is this person you've brought me here to see?"

"Her name is Katrina. She's out back in the staff toilets. I met her a couple of times at the meetings but I didn't really talk to her until today."

"Why today?" I asked thinking it was important. If the STO were setting a trap then there was the possibility that Jacob was an unwilling participant.

"I don't know," he replied. "I just got told there was an emergency meeting because of you guys hitting the Academy."

"What was said at this emergency meeting?"

"Not much. They just wanted to tell us to keep our heads down and don't draw attention to ourselves or we could be branded STO which we're not by the way and you know that, Bowman."

"Yeah I know," I uttered thinking of the mania that is now spreading throughout Caprica about monotheists. "So why did this Katrina come to you for help?"

"She didn't exactly. I saw her leaving before the meeting was over. She looked upset so, y'know, I went to go see if I could help."

"And that's when she told you she was STO and wants out is that it?" I asked still wondering if this was some kind of trap. He nodded quickly. "Do you think you're being played by her?"

"No," he said resolutely. "She seems like the real deal."

"Are _you_ playing with me?" I asked as threateningly as I could, knowing that fear was the best tool against Jacob.

"No, man, I swear!" he pleaded. I believed him.

"Alright then," I said. "Take me to her."

As I followed him across the bar to a door at the back of the main room I made a mental note to remember where my gun was holstered under my trench coat in case I needed it quickly. I of course knew where it was since I was used to carrying it there but it doesn't hurt to be that extra sure. It was somewhat reassuring to know it was there. If this was indeed a trap then the STO would have covered all avenues and one way or the other I would be dead. For all I know there could be a bomb planted inside the room ready to go off when I entered it.

I began to feel a paranoid fear beginning to grip me and I was now questioning whether this was such a good idea or not. Nevertheless I continued to follow Jacob through a door that said 'STAFF ONLY' on it. I looked around before entering and saw that everybody was too busy minding their own business to notice us walking into the side room.

The staff toilet consisted of just two cubicles one of which had an 'OUT OF ORDER' sign posted onto it and a sink which sat under a cracked mirror. A rather strong stench filled the air making breathing a laborious task. The one thing that sprung to mind about this room was that there was no one in here. Before I could ask Jacob what was going on he had walked over to the cubicle with the 'OUT OF ORDER' sign and banged on the door three times before whispering, "Katrina, it's me. I brought him."

The sound of a bolt being slid across the door echoed off the cracked tiles of the walls before the door to the cubicle crept open and a blond girl appeared inside wearing an Athena Academy uniform. I felt my eyebrows rise up in surprise as I immediately recognized her as the girl I had helped up with her books earlier that day. She looked at me with those frightened eyes she had back at the Academy. It was then that I came to the conclusion that perhaps it was more that she was afraid of STO than us or both. Either way was more palatable as far as I was concerned.

"Katrina is it?" I asked in greeting after a few seconds of prolonged silence. She nodded pathetically as if unable to speak. I then asked the six million cubit question. "Are you STO?"

It took another short while for her to gather her wits about her and nod before uttering, "Yes. But I haven't blown up any trains or anything like that!"

"Alright, alright," I said trying to calm her down a little after having been caught a little off guard by her sudden outburst. "My name is Agent Bowman. Now, Jacob here tells me that you would like our help, is that true?"

She cleared her throat before answering, "I want protection."

"From the STO?"

"Yes."

"I can arrange that for you," I said.

"And my mom and my brother too?" she added.

"Sure."

"But there's a price isn't there?"

"Yes," I explained. "You're STO. You have information that could be invaluable to us."

"I know lot's of things. About the STO I mean."

"That's good. Now then, why don't you come with me down to headquarters and we will discuss what you know?"

"No!" she replied bluntly and in a manner that indicated it was a rehearsed response as if she had been preparing herself for this moment.

"No? I thought you wanted our help?"

"I do but I know I'm only good to you as long as I have the information you want. I get protection for me and my family and I will give you the information you need."

I was both surprised and annoyed by her arrogance despite her timid and frightened exterior. "Do you really think you're in a position to dictate terms to me?"

"Are you in any position to refuse?" she asked sucking in a deep breath to calm her nerves before continuing, "This morning you ransacked the Academy and what did you find? Nothing! I know why."

"I'm impressed," I said half truthfully. "You're obviously a smart girl. Alright, I'll make it happen but you still need to come with me to headquarters. You'll be safe there. In the meantime I will have local cops go and pick up your mom and your brother and bring them down. How does that sound?"

She took a moment to think before she agreed and uttered, "Alright, let's go."

"Ok then well I'm out of here!" declared Jacob obviously relieved that it was over for him.

"Alright," I said to him. "Thank you." He didn't say anything in response. He simply stepped outside as quickly and as calmly as he could, leaving me alone with the girl. "Alright then, do you have any stuff with you?"

"Only my bag," she explained indicating to a small red rucksack that sat on the floor beside the porcelain toilet. She reached for it and threw it over her shoulders. I held out my hand indicating for her to stop.

"Put it on the floor," I instructed. She looked at me confused before she began to cooperate and placed it down in front of her between the two of us. "Now open it."

"Why?" she asked in a neutral tone.

"Do I really have to answer that?" I replied as if it was obvious to everyone but her. "You're STO. How do I know there isn't a bomb in there?"

"I'm not a terrorist!" she protested. "I don't go around with bombs in my bag."

"I don't know that. For all I know this could be part of an effort to blow up GDD Headquarters. Now, open the bag!" It was at that point I deliberately placed my hands on my hips forcing my trenchcoat to bulge open in the middle so she could see my gun. I wasn't directly threatening her but I was letting her know how serious the situation was, something which to my surprise had seemed to escape her. She saw the butt of my gun hanging under my left arm and her eyes bulged open in fear and surprise. Who was this girl to the STO? She certainly wasn't what I expected from a member of a radical religious group.

She kneeled down and began to open the bag. I instructed her to remove all the contents from inside and place them down on the floor in front of me to inspect. There were mostly school books inside the main compartment of the rucksack all of which had been covered in graffiti. Then there was a half eaten Aurora chocolate bar that had been wrapped back up in order to be saved for later. Next she pulled out a few pens and pencils as well as other types of stationary you'd normally expect to find in a high school student's bag. I then watched as she opened the side pockets and took out a pair of dirty gym socks and a stained sweat band. Happy that there was nothing threatening inside I allowed her to return the items to her bag which she did quickly and often clumsily. She stood up and looked at me in a way to ask if we could get out of the filthy toilet now.

"Alright, let's go," I said to her indicating for her to follow me. "Stay close to me and don't talk to anyone."

I opened the door and we stepped back outside into the bar. The waitress had noticed us leaving and protested to us having been in the staff toilet and not the customer one. I apologized as quickly and discretely as I could before leading Katrina outside but the sight of me and a high school girl leaving the toilet together seemed to raise a few eyebrows from the patrons who had heard the waitress. Finally, we made it through the door and back out into the street to where Claire was waiting in my car.


	3. Chapter 3

**Outside Toby's Bar**

"I thought you went in there to meet a contact?" chirped Claire through the passenger side window of my car. "Instead I find you picking up high school girls."

I lead Katrina to the back of the car and opened the door for her to climb in behind Claire on the passenger side. I held my hand on top of her head to make sure she didn't hit it as she got in, something I was taught to do as cop in Delphi. Katrina protested but I insisted. Once she was inside I closed the door before making my way around to the driver's side and climbed in.

"So who is this?" Claire asked me as I started the engine and began to drive off.

"My name is Katrina," interjected our passenger in the backseat. "Katrina Da Silva."

"She wants to arrange some protection for her brother and her mother," I added. "Can you get the local cops to take care of it?"

"What am I you're private secretary now?"

"No," I said as I recognized Claire's usual repertoire about to get into full swing. "A secretary wouldn't answer back."

"Fair enough," she replied grinning before looking over her shoulder to ask Katrina, "What's the address?"

"Seventy-twenty-two Cybele road," replied Katrina leaning forward. "Their names are Elissa and Adelphos Da Silva."

"Elissa and Adelphos, got it," said Claire as she took out her phone and began to call the Caprica City Police. Both Katrina and I remained silent while Claire arranged the protection for Katrina's mother and brother.

Caprica City takes on a whole new life at night. The seemingly endless rows of spacecraft flying over the city just become little dots of blinking lights that on a clear night just fade into the background of a star filled sky. The roads are always quieter and there are fewer people lining the sidewalk. Everywhere, you get a feeling that the city is about to go to sleep. At the end of a long day at the office, I've often found the drive home through a sleepy Caprica City to be quite therapeutic.

"It's done," said Claire as she hung up the phone. "Cops are on their way over there now." Katrina breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "So, you're one of these monotheists?"

"Yes," replied Katrina.

"One true God, huh?" added Claire in what I interpreted as quite a mocking way. I wanted to tell Claire to keep her personal feelings to herself so as to ensure that we had Katrina's cooperation but I couldn't do that in front of her. It would have been too unprofessional. "Bit of a gamble isn't it? Putting all your trust into one deity I mean?"

"You presume it's a choice," said Katrina. "I didn't go looking for the one true God. He found me."

"So this God is male?"

"God isn't male or female. God is everything," said Katrina with a rising hint of hostility. I decided to intervene to keep things civil.

"Did you find God before or after you joined STO?" I asked as neutrally as I could.

"Before, when I heard about the meetings I wanted to go so I could meet people who believed like I did. I thought some of them might be STO but I wasn't sure until it was too late."

"What do you mean too late?" asked Claire.

"The STO found I had skills they could use so they recruited me. You have to understand, it's very hard to say no to them. You see, I'm good with numbers. I know how to hide them."

"They used you to launder money?" I asked wondering just what she meant exactly.

"Yes," she uttered half afraid to. "I showed them how to make money look like something else on bank records and other business transactions. I set up a couple of companies that only existed on paper and used them to keep money flowing until it was needed."

"That's quite an extra curricular activity you got yourself there," chuckled Claire. I couldn't help but smirk. "I admit I have a little problem with all of this."

"What do you mean?" said Katrina with a confused look that I could see from the rear view mirror.

"Well the STO aren't exactly new on the block," said Claire. "Why would they need a school kid to do their paperwork for them?"

"I guess I could do a better job than they could," stammered the frightened young girl on the backseat.

"So what changed?" I asked.

"I-I'm sorry?" she again stuttered

"Why did you want out of the STO? What changed?"

"You know the holoband café that was bombed yesterday?" Of course we knew what she was talking about. The bombing of these cafes by the STO was what had finally given us authorization to work on Duram's theories like the Academy being involved in recruitment and training of STO operatives. "That was STO."

"We guessed that much," said Claire.

"Well haven't you ever wondered why nobody is deliberately being hurt? The STO cell that's responsible is trying to send a message to another one, to the cell I belong to."

"What kind of message?" I interjected.

"I'm not sure but it has something to do with a plan the leader of my cell has. The other cell that's doing the bombings disagrees. It was bad enough trying to stay away from you guys but now I have to watch my back for other STO."

"Wow, wow, wait a minute. Are you telling me that there's a power struggle within the STO?" I watched her nod in my rear view mirror. "Gods, that's all we frakking need; a terrorist group that has arguments with its members by blowing up buildings. So who is the leader of your cell, huh?"

"I'm not telling you yet," declared Katrina finding her backbone once more. "I've told you a lot already."

"You've barely told us a frakking thing!" spat Claire. "Only that your mono-buddies are having a disagreement about some plan."

"If I tell you everything now then there's nothing stopping you from just throwing me in jail."

Claire was about to attack once more but I threw up my hand to stop her.

"Ok," I said. "Just answer me this; where you tipped off about the raid this morning? Someone in the STO knew we were coming, is that right?"

"Yes," she answered somewhat hesitantly.

"How?" asked Claire but Katrina refused to answer preferring to use it for ammunition later.

She didn't have to tell us. I glanced over at Claire and I knew she could read what I was thinking. It must have been all over my face; someone from the GDD had tipped them off. There was an STO spy in our own department.

We didn't say much more for the next ten minutes. We just sat in silence as I drove us through the market on Atlas Street, now just row after row of closed stalls. At the end of the street was box junction controlled by traffic lights. A red light signaled for me to stop even though the traffic was almost non-existent and so I brought the car to a halt.

"Maybe you should ring Emma?" suggested Claire as we waited for the lights to change.

I looked at the time and saw it was coming up to 2100hrs.

"Nah," I said as the light turned green. I applied the accelerator and the car began to move once more. "She'll be curled up on the sofa watching her soaps. I'll call her later when she-"

I never got to finish my sentence.

There was a loud popping sound that caused my ears to ring loudly. I remember feeling an immense force throwing me like I was some kind of ragdoll being tossed out into the garbage. I heard the sound of glass breaking and what I could only assume was the sound of tires being dragged sideways across the road.

It all went black and I passed out.


	4. Chapter 4

**Caprica City General Hospital**

I don't remember having any sense of the passage of time after the collision. I remember different voices here and there whom I assume were the paramedics who were working on me in the ambulance and then the doctors at the hospital but other than that it's all just a vague blur until I finally began to wake up properly. I was told afterwards that almost nine hours had passed since the crash when I finally awoke.

A bright light appeared in front of me. It was blurry and had no form and I began to wonder if this was the light one is supposed to see on their journey to the afterlife. I laugh at it now but for a few seconds there I really did think that it was time for my journey. I concentrated harder and harder on trying to find shape in the light until I saw that it were in fact four lights grouped closely together. Finally the clarity came back and instead of finding a deity waiting to help me on cross to the next life I found I was looking at the ceiling of a hospital ward.

My sensations grew and I could feel tubes sticking up my nose blowing in oxygen. I began to move my eyes from left to right as I examined my surroundings. Every movement was stiff and difficult and I had to really concentrate to turn my head to find Emma half asleep in the chair next to my bed. I tried to call her but the signal seemed to get lost somewhere between my brain and my mouth.

Through half closed eyes she saw I was awake and she suddenly bolted upright and dashed towards me.

"Jack!" she cried.

I again tried to speak but once again I failed. A doctor suddenly appeared and brushed my wife aside as he began to shine a light in my eyes before examining me. I tried to talk to him and this time managed some throaty sound but for almost half an hour I fought a pitched battle with my voice to speak until I finally managed to get some words out.

"I'm sorry," I croaked to Emma who was once again sitting beside me clutching my left hand tightly. I genuinely meant my apology. If I hadn't let my job take over my life like I had I might not be in this state now. Having been so busy with my own recuperation it was only then I thought about my partner. "C-Claire?"

Emma rubbed her tired and tear-stained eyes before she spoke. She looked at me pitifully and I feared the worse.

"The other car hit yours on the passenger side," she explained. "Claire…she's in a bad way, Jack. The doctors worked on her for a couple of hours and they say it went well but it is still hit or miss." The thing I remember most about the next moment was the way she looked away from me. It was a look I had seen on her before when she had something important to say. It was her way of building up her strength for what she knew was to come. "Jack, who was the girl on the back seat?"

I had almost forgotten about Katrina. I was about to explain what I could about her when I saw Emma suddenly look up at something behind me. I turned my head around to the left and saw Jordan Duram standing in the doorway to my room. To sum up the look he was giving me all I have to say is that he didn't have flowers.

"Hey Jordan," said Emma.

"Hi Em'," he replied to her awkwardly. "Are you ok?"

"Yes, fine thanks," she replied to him. There was a pause that filled the room. It served only to silently ask Emma to leave us alone for a few minutes. "I'm going to get a coffee. Leave you two alone for a bit."

She got up and stepped out in absolute silence. Once she was gone Jordan closed the door behind her to give us privacy. He walked around my bed and picked up the chair Emma had been sitting on before turning it around rather violently and then landing down on it and leaning forward to bury his face into his hands.

"The boss is on his way down," he started before lifting his head up to look at me. "I wanted to have a word with you before he gets here."

"I'm doing ok," I mumbled. "Thanks for asking."

"You want to tell me about the girl?"

"The girl?" I repeated if only to buy myself time from explaining.

"Yes the girl!" he barked before adding, "the _dead_ girl. The one they had to pry out of the back of your car with a crowbar."

I didn't know what to say to him, I was a whirlpool of confused emotion. Should I have felt guilty about her death? She was in my car after all but she made her choices that led up to that moment as much as I did.

"She was STO," I explained.

"S-STO?" he asked disbelievingly. "You had an STO member in your car?"

"Yes. She wanted to leave them. She was going to provide us with information in exchange for protection."

"So that's why I have the Caprica City Police Chief breathing down my neck about having to pick up that girl's mother and brother?"

"Yes, she was afraid the STO would target them if they ever found out she was talking to us."

I could see Jordan was fighting the urge to grab hold of me and shake some sense into me. I'm sure he would have liked nothing better than to finish what the collision had started. He can be a scary person at times. It's difficult to tell just what he's thinking behind those beady little eyes. He sucked up his rage so he could continue his questioning.

"How did you find out about her?" he asked but before I could answer he added, "Did your informant, Jacob Ellis, tell you?"

"Yeah," I said surprised that he would draw that conclusion so quickly.

"Jacob Ellis was found dead this morning in his apartment," he explained in a tone that hinted that I was in someway responsible. "Overdose, toxicology said he had enough drugs in his system to keep this hospital going for a month. Suicide note said he was fed up with life and he wanted to end it."

"That's crap," I said knowing full well he had been killed by the STO for leading me to Katrina.

"Of course it's crap!" he snarled at me. "You know it. I know it. Director Singh knows it but no one's going to frakking admit it. You frakked up, Jack! The STO were on to you. It was a trap right from the very beginning and because you failed to follow procedure we've now got two dead informants, our only potential leads in this investigation, and two Agents hospitalized; one in a critical condition."

"You're going to pin this on me after you frakked up the raid on the Academy yesterday?"

"I don't have to," said Jordan rising to his feet in a fit of fury. "Brass has already made the decision but they don't want another PR fiasco so you're not suspended. Sick leave - until they decide what to do with you anyway."

He began to walk away but I wasn't going to let him. I mustered all the strength I could to lash out at him in retaliation.

"Hey wait a frakking minute!" I called. He stopped just as he opened the door and paused, waiting to hear what I had to say. "This was an accident. The fact that I had an STO member in the back had nothing to do with it so how the frak can you put all this on me?"

He closed the door once more and turned to me before answering, "The driver of the car that hit you; he was known to the authorities on Gemenon as being STO. Your little RTA was an assassination. The question is on who – Katrina or you?"


End file.
